Monday, October 3, 2011

Homeostasis of Happiness: Moods Fluctuate



Elements of the
Wallenda Model

Variable: position of body
Setpoint: directly over the wire
Sensors: nerve receptors (eyes, inner ears, muscle stretch receptors, etc.)
Integrator: brain
Effectors: skeletal muscles
tightrope man





Homeostasis: The body's balance

homeo = same; stasis = standing
Homeostasis = relative constancy of the internal fluid environment

The concept was first articulated by the Frenchman, Claude Bernard in 1860s

The term "homeostasis" was first used by an American, Walter Bradford Cannon in 1920s

"The coordinated physiological processes which maintain most of the steady states in the organism are so complex and so peculiar to living beings ...that I have suggested a special designation for these states, homeostasis. The word does not imply something set and immobile, a stagnation. It means a condition—a condition which may vary, but which is relatively constant." —Walter B. Cannon

W. B. Cannon was the one who really established homeostasis as a unifying concept of human physiology.








Read more at the site:

No comments:

Post a Comment